Colonial Legislatures Research Articles

The Northern Rhodesian Legislative Council

Journal Article The Northern Rhodesian Legislative Council Get access The Northern Rhodesian Legislative Council. By J. W. Davidson, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge and University Lecturer in History. 1948. (London: published under the auspices of Nuffield College by Faber and Faber. Studies in Colonial Legislatures. Volume III. Edited by Margery Perham. 9″ × 5½″. 150 pp. Index. Map. 12s. 6d.) G. B. Cartland G. B. Cartland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 24, Issue 4, October 1948, Pages 615–616, https://doi.org/10.2307/3017698 Published: 01 October 1948

The Northern Rhodesian Legislative Council

Journal Article The Northern Rhodesian Legislative Council Get access The Northern Rhodesian Legislative Council. Studies in Colonial Legislatures III. J. W. Davidson. Ed. Margery Perham. London. Faber (for Nuffield College). 1948. Pp. 150. 12/6. STEWART SYMES STEWART SYMES Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar African Affairs, Volume 47, Issue 188, July 1948, Page 188, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a093656 Published: 01 July 1948

The Development of the Legislative Council 1606–1945. Studies in Colonial Legislatures

The Development of the Legislative Council 1606–1945. Studies in Colonial Legislatures

The Development of the Legislative Council, 1606–1945. By Martin Wight. London: Faber and Faber. 1946. (Studies in Colonial Legislatures, edited by Margery Perham, vol. i.) Pp. 187. 10s. 6d.

The Development of the Legislative Council, 1606–1945. By Martin Wight. London: Faber and Faber. 1946. (Studies in Colonial Legislatures, edited by Margery Perham, vol. i.) Pp. 187. 10<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>.

Congress and the Future

The American nation was born of the struggle between colonial legislatures elected by the people as their direct representatives and the executive power of the English king. It was to the colonial legislatures that the people of the Colonies looked for the defense of their liberties, and it was from their membership that most of the outstanding leaders of the American Revolution came. The Declaration of Independence was the work of the Continental Congress, an essentially legislative body, and until the formation of the Constitution the government of the American Republic consisted of that legislative body and of it alone. The deepest concern of the majority of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention, as well as of the people whom they represented, was that the Constitution might set up toe strong an executive. They feared that such an executive might, as executives had done so frequently in the past, rob the people of their liberties and take unto himself powers inconsistent with the ideals for which the Revolutionary War had been fought.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS: Karel Hansen Toll

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS Karel Hansen Toll BY A. N. RYGG I have for some years been aware of the fact that a Norwegian named Karel Hansen or Karel Hansen Toll was prominent in Schenectady, New York, and in wider circles, towards the end of the seventeenth and during the first third of the eighteenth century. In the hope that it might be possible to add to our scant knowledge of this man, I recently wrote to one of Karel Hansen's descendants on the mother's side, namely Dudley Toll Hill, editor of the Schenectady Gazette , and asked if there was any available printed material. Mr. Hill answered that he, in 1941, had published a book, Genealogy of the Toll Family (of Daniel and Simon) Branches , with Allied Families of the Former , Together with a Brief History of the Founder , Karel Hansen Toll. Another member of the family, Dr. Daniel J. Toll, had, in 1847, published A Narrative , Embracing the History of Two or Three of the First Settlers and Their Families , of Schenectady , Interspersed with a Few Anecdotal Eccentricities and Antiquities , Together with a Description of the Winter Evening Visits, Recreations , and Supper, and Strictures on the Change of Times. There were two other good primary sources: Jonathan Pearson's Contributions for the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and City of Schenectady from 1662 to 1800 (Albany, 1873); and John Sanders' Centennial Address to the Early History of Schenectady and Its First Settlers (Albany, 1879). All these volumes are to be found in the New York Public Library; Dr. Daniel J. Toll's Narrative is in the department for rare books. No direct proof that Hansen was a Norwegian can be produced . Nothing definite is known of him before he appeared about 1680 in Albany and Schenectady, where he spent the remainder of his life. But the tradition in his family maintains 244 KAREŁ HANSEN TOLL 245 that he was a Norwegian, and when Dr. Tolí, who in 1847 wrote his Narrative , asked his uncle where the ancestor came from, the uncle answered without hesitation that he came from Norway in Holland. To this Dr. Toll remarks that many of the Dutch immigrants had only the slightest knowledge of geography , and that it was natural for them to assume, when they heard that a man had come from Norway, that this place was in Holland. He adds that it is a settled point in philosophy that the larger element dominates the smaller, and that this also holds good for immigrants coming into a community in which they are outnumbered. Almost everything was turned into Dutch among those pioneers. It must likewise be remembered that the uncle referred to lived only forty, fifty, or sixty years after the ancestor; that is to say, at a time when the tradition still was strong and unimpaired. After having weighed the various points in the accessible material, Dr. Toll reaches the conclusion that Karel Hansen Toll was "absolutely and unequivocally" a Norwegian. As regards the name " Toll," the doctor, who is aware that it is to be found also in Sweden, Russia, and other countries, says that it is " conclusively Norwegian, although its origin might be Scandinavian ." Ordinarily the name Karel Hansen was used, but in legal documents and mortgages Toll was always added. A receipt for salary in 1726, while Hansen was a member of the colonial legislature, shows that he then spelled his name Haensen . There are indications, writes Dr. Toll, that Hansen was a seaman and was imprisoned in a fortress in Porto Cabello in South America. From this place he succeeded in getting away by swimming out to a ship in the harbor. This ship took him to New York. At this time he must have been twenty-five years old, as it is assumed that he was born about 1655. This was in 1680, and soon thereafter Hansen appeared in Schenectady, where, in 1683 or 1684, he was married to Elizabeth Rinckhout. He first lived at Hoffman's Ferry in Glenville, near Schenectady, and he advanced in " prosperity and honor." He was an enterprising and energetic man, bought and sold real estate...

Congress of Universities of the Empire

IT is surprising to learn that the Empire boasts, at the present moment, fifty-four seats, of higher education entitled by Charter or by Act of a Colonial Legislature to the style of university. Advisedly we write, at the present moment. Last summer Queensland and Hong Kong added two to the list; the University of Western Australia came into being on January 1; those of Calgary and British Columbia are still younger. It is the age of universities. When the Victorian Universities of Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Leeds made their appearance they were viewed with considerable misgiving from Oxford and Cambridge. The older universities feared lest they should suffer severely from the competition. The number of their students and their efficiency have increased as rapidly as their rivals'.

An Intercolonial Preferential Experiment

The skillful policy of Sir Wilfred Laurier, the discussions of the colonial conferences, the propaganda of Mr. Chamberlain, and the activities of the colonial legislatures have served to bring the subject of preferential trade most prominently before the attention of the British public. Unfortunately the consideration of the question has been almost exclusively of a partisan character, the merit or expediency of the policy being lost sight of amid the stress of national political issues. The question, however, is one which readily admits of scientific economic treatment, since the history of imperial relations, and more especially the reciprocal economic policies of the several groups of colonies offer abundant material for an impartial historical and political investigation. The preferential program is not new or experimental; it has been tried both as an imperial and intercolonial policy by imperial and colonial governments alike. The Canadian, Australian and South African colonies have all attempted to work out within their several groups a more perfect political organization through some system of commercial cooperation or fiscal preference. The experience of the Australian group is especially valuable and instructive to the student of imperial politics, on account of the favorable conditions under which the experiment was made. On the one hand, the isolation and the geographical unity of the colonies, the uniformity of their legal systems and political institutions, and above all the racial, social and religious unity of the inhabitants combined to weld the colonies into an organic whole; on the other hand, the diversity of economic life, the natural independence of the colonies, thanks to an open sea-board, the irreconcilable differences in their fiscal systems, the ambitions of local politicians, the jealousies of competing cities, and the selfishness of particularistic interests impelled each state to maintain a separate existence, and to pursue a course of free and independent action.

The Horn Expedition for the Scientific Exploration of Central Australia

INFORMATION has been received of the organization and despatch from Adelaide of a new and well-equipped expedition for the scientific exploration of the Macdonnell Ranges which lie about eleven hundred miles to the northward of that capital and nearly in the centre of the Australian continent. The expense of this expedition is borne by a wealthy and public-spirited colonist of South Australia, Mr. William Austin Horn, who thirty years ago carried out on his own account some explorations in the Gawler Ranges, and has since-taken a very active part in the development of the mineral resources of the country, besides being a prominent member of the colonial legislature and of the Council of the University of Adelaide.

The Rainfall of the Cape Colony

OBSERVATIONS of rainfall were begun in the colony about forty-five years ago, but until 1876 no general system of registration was in force; and, except in the case of the Royal Observatory and a few other stations, no continuous records were available. In 1876, however, Mr. John G. Gamble, M.A., M.Inst.C.E., the Hydraulic Engineer to the Colony, induced the Government to grant a sum of 100l., for the purpose of establishing rain-gauges throughout the country. This grant has been continued yearly since then, with the result that, although the sum is quite inadequate for the speedy erection of the number required, there are now 250 gauges from which monthly returns are obtained. A gauge is placed at every seat of magistracy, and private persons are also supplied with gauges free of charge on condition that they observe continuously for five years, and forward monthly returns to the Meteorological Commission at Cape Town. All the services rendered by the observers are gratuitous. The monthly returns are tabulated and printed together with other meteorological observations in a report by the Meteorological Commission, which is presented annually to the Colonial Legislature.

The South-African Museum

SINCE we last gave a notice of this institution we have learned, with much pleasure, that the Cape Government has made liberal provision for its more efficient administration and maintenance. There is none of the more important British Colonies which has of late made more rapid progress than the Cape in material prosperity, and it is most gratifying to find that the Molteno administration (the first ministry organised under the Parliamentary System of Government initiated in 1872) has not been oblivious of the claims of science during its four years' tenure of office. In the estimates for the financial year 1876–77, as passed by the Colonial Legislature, we find provision made for Botanical Gardens to the extent of 2,900l.; for Public Libraries, 2,600l.; for Museums, 1,300l.; while such items as “Geological Researches, 1,500l.;” “In aid of publishing Dr. Bleek's Bushman Researches, 200l.;” and “Meteorological Commission, 250l.;” sufficiently prove that the duty of endowing research is practically recognised by the Cape authorities. The present able Governor, Sir Henry Barkley, F.R.S., is as well and widely known for his attachment to scientific pursuits as for his distinction in Colonial administration, and we think we cannot err in tracing to his judicious influence much of the enlightened action of his responsible advisers in their recommendations to the Parliament.